


sometimes things go wrong

by MarbledOpalescence



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt No Comfort, starts with fluff but ends full angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22091704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarbledOpalescence/pseuds/MarbledOpalescence
Summary: Annie Langston thinks she's going to spend the rest of her life with Sasha James. There's an accident, though, and sometimes things just go wrong.
Relationships: Sasha James/Original Female Character
Kudos: 10





	sometimes things go wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of [tmafemslashweek](tmafemslashweek.tumblr.com) on tumblr!  
> Warnings for shouting and arguments, mentions of the aftereffects of injury, and canon-typical strangeness.  
> Set during the end of season 1/beginning of season 2. Also this is just a sad story, you guys. It's just very sad.

We see a polaroid hung in pride of place on a wall full of pictures. It’s in a frame, a bright blue bought from a tourist shop on vacation. The two women are grinning, Annie with her arms around Sasha’s neck and kissing her cheek while Sasha grins up at the camera she’s holding.

Annie is in the kitchen now, humming softly to herself while she makes breakfast. In her pocket there is a ring in a small velvet box. She isn’t proposing today, but feels safer having it near her as a constant reminder of her plans, an unsaid promise to the woman she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Sasha walks into the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Annie sings a good morning and Sasha mumbles it back. She walks up behind Annie and wraps her arms around her, pressing her face into the space between Annie’s shoulderblades. Annie laughs and maneuvers around the kitchen with her girlfriend clinging to her back.

They eat breakfast together, Sasha quieter than usual. They take care of the dishes together, then Annie gathers her bags gets ready to leave.

Sasha clings to her again and Annie clings back.

“I don’t want you to go,” Sasha whispers.

“It’s only three days, love,” Annie whispers back, “I’ll be back soon.”

Sasha pulls her down into a kiss, long and lingering and sweet.

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. Be safe.”

And Annie leaves.

It is the morning of July 28th, 2016.

* * *

Annie gets a call in France. A call that makes her collapse into the nearest chair as the breath rushes out of her. A call that has her colleagues asking if she’s alright, she’s gone pale as a sheet, is something wrong. A call that has her making excuses and leaving the conference early.

* * *

Annie rushes into the room and Sasha rises to meet her. Annie clutches her tightly at first, then holds her at arm’s length, looking her up and down for injuries.

Sasha laughs slightly, covering Annie’s hands with her own.

“I’m alright, darling,” she says, looking down at Annie with a smile, “The boys got it worse than me.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Annie says, wiping away tears, “If I’d known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have left, I’d have kept you home all day with me-”

“Anns,” Sasha interrupts, cupping her face, “You couldn’t have known.”

The petname feels oddly hollow when Sasha says it, but Sasha leans down and Annie reaches up, and they kiss softly.

* * *

We see the apartment again. The polaroid is missing now. Sasha took a dizzy spell and fell into the wall, knocking the picture down and shattering the frame while Annie is away at work. The picture, taken of them on their first holiday together, is unsalvageable. Annie blames herself and takes more time off, even at Sasha’s protest.

“You fell!” Annie says, worry turning her voice sharp.

“I told you I was fine! I must have just not drunk enough water that day, I’m  _ alright _ ,” Sasha insists, her voice turning petulant.

The night ends in soft apologies, but there is still a sour in the air, something unfamiliar between them.

* * *

Annie stops humming in the mornings. She still makes breakfast when she gets up, but it’s a silent affair until she calls to Sasha to come out and eat.

She starts crying in the bathroom at work. It’s not every day, but things start to be too much. Worry about Sasha, stress about work. The ring still lives in its velvet box in her pocket, but its weight feels more like a burden than a comfort now. Her coworkers ask if she’s okay and she doesn’t know how to answer.

Her life feels like it’s falling apart and she doesn’t know what’s changed.

* * *

“What is  _ wrong _ with you lately, Anns?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you! I worry about you all the time while I’m at work, I don’t know why you don’t just quit after everything that’s happened at that damned archive-”

“You know I can’t do that-”

“Why not?” Annie interrupts viciously, “Why can’t you just quit, just walk away? What the hell is keeping you there?”

“That’s not fair,” Sasha says icily, drawing herself up to her full height, “You know how important the Magnus Institute is to me.”

“More important than me?”

Annie blanches under Sasha’s glare and looks away, angrily wiping away her tears.

“I’m sorry that wasn’t fair. I just,” her breath hitches in her throat and she fights back a sob, “I don’t feel like I even know you these days! You’ve been so strange since after the worm incident, and I just- I don’t know anymore! You’re not the same woman I fell in love with!”

“Then why are you staying?”

Annie gasps and meets Sasha’s hard eyes. She feels tears welling up but can’t do anything to stop them.

“Maybe I’m not.”

The sound of a door slamming echoes through the apartment, loud and sudden and final.

* * *

We see a new wall in a different apartment. There are no pictures up, and it still smells unlived in. Annie is curled on her couch alone, surrounded by the remnants of her life. Everything feels touched by Sasha, every imprint of her making Annie feel more alone.

Annie knows she made the right choice, that Sasha wasn’t the same and staying would have made her more miserable, but the ring still sits on her bedside table as a taunting reminder of everything she lost.

She doesn’t sing in the mornings for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!! I had a lot of fun writing this, like an unreasonable amount of fun, but here it is! I think one of my favorite parts was laying the subtle hints that something was wrong with Sasha. (Sasha was shorter than Annie by several inches while Not!Sasha is taller than her by several inches.) (Stuff like that!)  
> Also, some thoughts on Annie:
> 
>   * "Anns" wasn't the nickname Sasha used for her, that was just the not!Sasha. Sasha called her "Lark" or "Songbird".
>   * Annie eventually moves back in with her sister for a while. Her sister offered when she first broke up with Sasha, but Annie wanted to prove (at least to herself) that she could live without the woman she'd wanted to spend the rest of her life with. That lasted about four months and then the loneliness got to her.
>   * She doesn't stay alone forever either. She slowly starts to heal and finds love again. Annie does have a happy ending, and she does sing again.
> 

> 
> As always, I am [marbledopalescence](marbledopalescence.tumblr.com) on tumblr if you want to come say hi!  
> <3


End file.
